Windfreak87 wrote:Can anyone tell me if I can use my cabrinha Ids bar on blade fat lady? Trying to talk the wife into letting me pick one up, but it would help my cause if I can save on the bar.

I use Cabrinha 55cm bar on Fat Lady - no problems at all. BTW wind range on it is amazing - recently flew it in 20knots gusts and on a big board too! That is where Cabrinha bar has an advantage - it has more throw and depower, easier no handle gusts and stronger wind when it picks up unexpectedly.

By the way, I have 2012 Fat Lady for sale - let me know if you would be interested.

before you make a final decision, take a look at the new Cabrinha Velocity. Yes, I know it supposed to be a Race Kite...well it is, but it is also a GREAT freestyle/freeride kite. Your XBs cost more than the Cabrinha Switchblades of the same year....the Velocity costs less than the 2013 Switchblades.

Besides having great throw for depower in the bar, it has 30cm of depower in the 4:1 depower system. And the bar is backward compatible with your XBs

Sweet, the wife will be happy that I will save 500 dollars on a new kite. Now do you any issues with the fat lady flagging out withe the cabrinha bar? I maybe be able to get a deal on an 2013 far lady, hope to try one with in a couple weeks.

The cab velocity maybe something I'm interested in, I maybe able to try one later in the summer, its still going a little while before got the funds for another kite anyways. From what I have read about them is they are built with really light construction, I'm interested to see how they hold up to the regular free rider. I plan to keep my kites until they fall apart get my money's worth, so I would rather keep them at least a few seasons.

Toby wrote:With your weight you should look at a kite 17-19 sqm.
And don't be afraid of a bigger kite...actually they are much easier to handle!

for what Toby said
My suggestion is a 19m2 Core Riot XR2LW...it turns fast for it's size...feels like a smaller size kite
Buy it complete with their awesome Sensor bar and ride with 27m lines (24+3m extensions included)

For it's size (19) i am powered up at 8kn and easily take it to 18 knots in the ocean (75kg)
You could surely with 102 kg have a range from 9kn to 20kn

JS wrote:The variation in perception of wind speed (and even more so wind strength) tends to be considerably greater between specific observers and specific conditions than the variation in capabilities between different kite brands and models (of similar size).

For example, the inherent 'strength' and 'energy' of 11 knot wind is 247% that of 7 knot wind. In my life of competitive sailing, teaching, coaching, windsurfing and kiteboarding, I've seen many more people confidently misjudge such variations than get them right... which may explain the extraordinary divergence of opinions on kite performance.

Cheers,
James

This is even more important at very low speeds.

Theoretically wind power is proportional to the speed cubed, so if the wind goes from 4 to 5 mph, the power in theory goes up by 1.95 times ie almost doubles. So the perfect kite for 4 mph is about twice the size of the perfect kite for 5 mph.

So if pushing for very low winds, don't expect a big wind range.
That's part of why big board smaller kite works better at very low wind speeds.